The Border as a Weapon: A Familiar Strategy
Same playbook, different decade: weaponized borders and the 'deterrence' fallacy. FIRST INSTANCE: The Mediterranean Fortress (1990s) The concept of 'Fortress Europe' emerged vividly in the 1990s, particularly after the ratification of the Schengen Agreement in 1995. While internal borders were abolished, external borders were reinforced. This era saw the initial push to externalize migration
control, with EU nations beginning to finance neighboring countries – particularly in North Africa – to intercept migrants before they reached European shores. This included funding for border guards, surveillance equipment, and detention centers in countries like Morocco and Libya. The rhetoric was deterrence; the reality was shifting the humanitarian and operational burden. REPETITIONS: The
Libya Deal and Turkey Agreement (2016) The pattern solidified in the mid-2010s. In 2016, the EU struck a controversial deal with Turkey, offering billions in aid and political concessions in exchange for Turkey preventing migrants and refugees from reaching Greece (European Council, 2016). Simultaneously, Italy and the EU significantly ramped up cooperation with Libya's coast guard, providing
training and equipment despite well-documented human rights abuses in Libyan detention camps (Amnesty International, 2017). The stated goal was to 'break the business model' of smugglers. However, the result was trapping vulnerable people in dangerous, often violent conditions, and making the journey even more perilous, pushing routes to less monitored, more lethal paths like the Central